Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
"Science fiction and science have always danced around each other. Science fiction is the subconscious of science."
- Greg Bear
 |
| Sentry Trees | ||
| A set of trees that will allow only those with the safe signal to pass. |
At this point in the story, Aile Farr, biologist from Earth, is about to get his first real look at Iszc technology with his host, Zhde Patasz.
| The glide-car slowed, coasted toward the beach, and halted twenty feet offshore. Uder Che, the architect, jumped into the knee-deep water and cautiously walked ashore, carrying a black box. The trees reacted to his presence, at first leaning toward him, then recoiling and unlacing their branches. After a moment there was a gap wide enough for the glide-car, which now proceeded across the beach and through the gap. Uder Che followed and boarded the car; the trees once more joined branches to create an impenetrable tangle.
Zhde Patasz explained that, "The trees will kill anyone who attempts to pass without manifesting the proper safe-signal, which is radiated from the box. In the past, planters often mounted expeditions against each other - no longer the case, of course - and the sentry trees are perhaps not strictly necessary. But we are a conservative lot and maintain our old customs. |
| From The Houses of Iszm,
by Jack Vance. Published by Better Publications in 1954 Additional resources -
|
Trees or bushes with interlaced branches have been used for centuries as a kind of barrier; at least one ninth century French king complained of the construction of unauthorized haies et fertés - hedgerows made of interlaced hawthorne branches.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Houses of Iszm
More Ideas
and Technology by Jack Vance
Tech news articles related to The Houses of Iszm
Tech news articles related to works by Jack Vance
| Is There Extraterrestrial Life Here In The Solar System |
| Chinese Fern Helps Remediate Arsenic Soil |
| New Lifelike Material Powered By Artificial Metabolism |
| DNA May Contain Malware |
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a
quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add
it here.
| <Previous | Next> |
|
|
|
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
'It was a tiny thing, scarcely more than an inch and a half in length...'
'We could certainly spin a web right through the Solar System, if we can think of a good use for one.'
'When it found planetary systems in its field, automatically shifted upon them a higher powered telespectroscope ...'
'How fast is it moving? ...one meter per minute.'
'You’ve nothing remotely like it, so I can’t describe it to you.'
'... the young men in the streets who applied polyimde OLED body film to their bared shoulders.'
'Bioengeering had put out a spec report on the long crawly things five months back.'
'The air-taxi found its way past and around other ground-cars...'
